Broadway: Festen. Stage: Ten Unknowns (Lucille Lortel Award), The Vagina Monologues, Intrigue With Faye, The Substance of Fire, Fefu and Her Friends. Television: “The Morning Show,” “Billions,” “The Hot Zone,” “Dietland,” “The Good Wife” (two time Emmy and SAG Award winner, Golden Globe, Critics Choice awards), “The Sopranos,” “The Grid” (Golden Globe nomination), “The Mists of Avalon” (Golden Globe nomination), “ER” (Emmy and six-time SAG award winner). Film: Millers in Marriage (upcoming), Three Christs, The Upside, Stand Up Guys, City Island, Snakes on a Plane, The Darwin Awards, Slingshot, Ghost Ship, Evelyn, The Man From Elysian Fields, What’s Cooking?, The Newton Boys, A Price Above Rubies, Paradise Road and Traveller. Author: Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life.

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A conversation with my father. 

Robert (Bob) Levine was born on December 16th, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Julius, was a Certified Public Accountant by profession, his mother, Tess, was a homemaker and president of the P.T.A and both my grandparents were constantly volunteering for the many organizations  that supported the causes they believed in.

Their commitment to social activism was passed down to my father and his siblings and then to me and it is my hope that my children will continue that legacy to be activists for the things they believe in and to use their voices even when others wish it to  be silenced.

During the Covid-19 pandemic my visits with my parents were limited to good weather days when we could be outside with each other and talk from a distance. This conversation was recorded during one of those visits in December of 2020 at their home.

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Maria Dizzia was last seen in the Broadway Revival of Macbeth and starred in the national tour of Heidi Schreck's acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me. Other Theatre: If I Forget, The Layover, Belleville (2013 Drama Desk Nomination), Uncle Vanya, In the Next Room (2010 Tony Award nomination); Eurydice and many more.

She made her directorial debut with the Amios Theater Company production of The Loneliest Number (2018 NY Innovative Theater nomination) and most recently directed Marin Ireland's Pre-Existing Condition at the Connelly Theater.

In 2019 she starred in the Academy Award winning short The Neighbors' Window directed by Marshall Curry for which she also earned the Best Actress Award at the Short Shorts Festival. Maria portrayed Polly on three seasons of Orange is the New Black and had recurring roles on The Staircase, The First Lady, The Undoing, 13 Reasons Why, Horace and Pete, Louie, Emergence, Red Oaks and Royal Pains.

Other select television and film credits include: The Good Nurse, Christine, Life and Beth, The Outside Story, The Deuce, The Newsroom, Prodigal Son, While We’re Young, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Margin Call, The Good Wife, Master of None, Elementary, Fringe, Law & Order and Law & Order Criminal Intent.

She can currently be seen in Paramount+’s series School Spirits, the independent films My Old Ass & Christmas Eve in Miller's Point as well as recurring on Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Before with Billy Crystal and Judith Light.

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ROSS MEYERSON is best known for his work as an award-winning television and film casting director. He won an Emmy for his work on ‘Damages’ in 2007 as well as having received seven additional nominations. The short film “Red, White and Blue” his last casting project has been nominated for a 2024 Oscar. He has been nominated sixteen times for CSA’s prestigious Artios Award and was fortunate enough to have won twice for ‘Homeland’ and ‘Rescue Me’. Other notable shows Ross has cast include ‘The Affair’, ‘The Americans’. ‘Nurse Jackie’, ‘’Dexter : New Blood’, “The Equalizer’, ‘The Expanse’, ’The Big C’, ‘The Following’, ‘Seven Seconds’, ‘Hunters’, ‘In Treatment’, ‘Sneaky Pete’, ‘True Blood’(pilot) and many others. The list of showrunners, writers and directors he has had the privilege of working with include Alan Ball, David Milch, Denis Leary, Peter Tolan, Paul Feig, Kevin Williamson, Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg, Brett Ratner, Bryan Cranston, George Nolfi, Dan Futterman, Clyde Phillips, Sarah Treem and Veena Sud. 

In addition to his work as a casting director Ross has also works producing and developing new works for the screen and stage. He recently produced ‘I’ll Be Right There’ starring Edie Falco, Bradley Whitford, Michael Rapaport, Charlie Tahan, Michael Beach, Jeanie Berlin and Sepideh Moafi . ‘I’ll Be Right There” was selected in the Hampton, Newport, Santa Barbara and Jackson Hole Film Festivals. He will begin shooting his next film, ‘The Yeti” in late January. His next project in development is the feature film ‘Juliet’ written by Jen Richards and recently chosen for the GLAAD list and The Black List. 

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ROBERT GREENBLATT is one of television’s most prolific executives and producers, with a career spanning broadcast television, cable, streaming, and the Broadway stage. As Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment until 2020, he ran HBO, TNT, and oversaw the launch of HBO Max which — as Max — now has over 100 million subscribers. 

As Chairman of NBC Entertainment from 2011 to 2018, he brought NBC back to #1 after a decade in last place with acclaimed series such as The Voice, the Chicago trilogy, This Is Us, The Blacklist, Smash, Superstore, and The Good Place. His passion for theatre resulted in reviving the lost art of live musicals on television and NBC became the proud home of The Sound of Music Live! (seen by 20 million people), Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live!, Hairspray Live!, the Emmy-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, and Annie Live! (for which he was also executive producer).

Greenblatt is a Peabody and Golden Globe-winning producer in television with credits that range broadly from The Gilded Age and Six Feet Under to The Hughleys, American Family, and Elvis. He is also a prolific Broadway producer and the recipient of four Tony Awards and two Oliviers. He is currently lead producer with Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg of the musical adaptation of Smash, which will debut on Broadway in April, 2025.

Prior to NBC, Greenblatt was President of Showtime Networks from 2003 to 2010 engineering a significant renaissance of that cable network with a string of hits such as Weeds, Dexter, Shameless, Nurse Jackie, Californication, This American Life, and The Tudors. He began his career at Fox Broadcasting where he is responsible for indelible shows that included Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Party of Five, Ally McBeal, King of the Hill, and The Sopranos, a pilot he developed that eventually found its way to HBO. 

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ROBERT GREENBLATT is one of television’s most prolific executives and producers, with a career spanning broadcast television, cable, streaming, and the Broadway stage. As Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment until 2020, he ran HBO, TNT, and oversaw the launch of HBO Max which — as Max — now has over 100 million subscribers. 

As Chairman of NBC Entertainment from 2011 to 2018, he brought NBC back to #1 after a decade in last place with acclaimed series such as The Voice, the Chicago trilogy, This Is Us, The Blacklist, Smash, Superstore, and The Good Place. His passion for theatre resulted in reviving the lost art of live musicals on television and NBC became the proud home of The Sound of Music Live! (seen by 20 million people), Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live!, Hairspray Live!, the Emmy-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, and Annie Live! (for which he was also executive producer).

Greenblatt is a Peabody and Golden Globe-winning producer in television with credits that range broadly from The Gilded Age and Six Feet Under to The Hughleys, American Family, and Elvis. He is also a prolific Broadway producer and the recipient of four Tony Awards and two Oliviers. He is currently lead producer with Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg of the musical adaptation of Smash, which will debut on Broadway in April, 2025.

Prior to NBC, Greenblatt was President of Showtime Networks from 2003 to 2010 engineering a significant renaissance of that cable network with a string of hits such as Weeds, Dexter, Shameless, Nurse Jackie, Californication, This American Life, and The Tudors. He began his career at Fox Broadcasting where he is responsible for indelible shows that included Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Party of Five, Ally McBeal, King of the Hill, and The Sopranos, a pilot he developed that eventually found its way to HBO. 

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ALYSE ALAN LOUIS - Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Teeth (Playwrights Horizons/OCR). Since 2011, she’s been part of Teeth’s development. Broadway: Amélie (OCR), Disaster, Mamma Mia! Off-Broadway: Drama Desk nomination for Soft Power (Hillary/The Public/Grammy nominated OCR); White Girl in Danger (Second Stage/OCR); A New Brain (Encores!/ OCR); The Civilians’ Pretty Filthy (Abrons/ OCR). @alyselouis

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Greg Germann is an actor known for his work in film, television and on Broadway where he starred with Mark Rylance in BOEING BOEING. He was a member of Circle Repertory Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre and has performed at Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre, La Mama, Second Stage among others. Created roles in Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower, Only You, Found A Peanut and many more.

He has also appeared in numerous films including TALEDEGA NIGHTS, FRIENDS WITH MONEY, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, SWEET NOVEMBER, QUARANTINED, ONCE AROUND, among others.

Greg is best known for the many characters he has created on the small screen, including Tom Koracick on GREY’S ANATOMY and Richard Fish on ALLY McBEAL, as well as House of Lies, Once Upon a Time and many more. 

During the war in Afghanistan Greg traveled there twice as a goodwill ambassador, visiting thousands of troops from Kandahar to Kabul along with dozens of Forward Operating Bases (F.O.B’s) across the country.

For over 15 years he’s been involved with Anthony Shriver’s organization BEST BUDDIES, which is dedicated to creating employment and inclusive living opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  At one time servingon the California Advisory Board. 

For almost 20 years Greg has had the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors for THE PEOPLE CONCERN Los Angeles, whichis dedicated not just to manage the unacceptable crisis of people experiencing homelessness, but ending it!  Greg recently served as the Board Chair.

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Laura grew up in Belfast, Ireland, and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

She won the ‘Best Actress’ Olivier Award and was further nominated for a Tony Award and Evening Standard Theatre Award for her portrayal’ of ‘Caitlin’ in the critically acclaimed production of Jez Butterworth’s THE FERRYMAN, directed by Sam Mendes.

The "triumphant, bold piece of theatre” appeared at the Royal Court and Gielgud Theatre in London before transferring to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway. 

Laura now stars in THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA on Broadway, a new play by Butterworth and Mendes. Donnelly reprises her role from its debut on the West End which saw her earn a ‘Best Actress’ Olivier nomination. Other stage highlights include her role as ‘Other Woman’ in THE RIVER (West End and Broadway) written by Butterworth and directed by Ian Rickson, THE WASP (Trafalgar Studios), PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME! (Donmar Warehouse), JUDGEMENT DAY (Almeida Theatre) ROMEO AND JULIET and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (both at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and DANCING AT LUGHNASA (Lyric Theatre, Belfast). 

For television, Laura starred alongside Gael Garcia Bernal in a Marvel Studios one-off Halloween special called WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (Disney+) and as ‘Amalia True’ in HBO’s fantasy series THE NEVERS also starring James Norton, Eleanor Tomlinson, Olivia Williams and Nick Frost. She is also known for playing 'Jenny Fraser’ in the Golden Globe nominated drama, OUTLANDER. Further credits include the International Emmy Award winning series, SUGAR RUSH (Channel 4), THE FALL (BBC) starring Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson, MERLIN (BBC), the ABC production of MISSING, the BAFTA award-winning drama OCCUPATION (BBC), BRITANNIA (Amazon Studios), HEX (Sky One) and BEST (BBC). 

Laura’s film credits include Fox Searchlight’s TOLKIEN, THE PROGRAM (StudioCanal), HELLO CARTER (Bankside), DREAD (Seraphim Films), INSATIABLE (Kirby Films) and RIGHT HAND DRIVE (Pine Road Pictures).

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John Slattery is an American actor and director. He is best known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series Mad Men. He has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Critics' Choice Television Awards for AMC's series Mad Men. He was also part of the Mad Men ensemble cast that won two SAG Awards.

In 2013, Slattery directed his first feature film, God's Pocket, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. He is currently on the HBO series Veep.

Apart from his role on Mad Men, Slattery is also known for roles on Homefront; the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon; the HBO series K Street; guest appearances on Will & Grace; Judging Amy; Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives.

Other films include Mona Lisa Smile, Flags of our Fathers, Charlie Wilson's War and The Adjustment Bureau.

In 2015, Slattery portrayed journalist Ben Bradlee Jr. in the Academy Award winning film Spotlight, and also appeared in the Netflix comedy series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, for which he earned a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.

Little Known Fact - He is an avid surfer.

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